Pixels and Paper
by T75
Summary: A Space invade knockoff and a Paper bear, the perfect match? Rated T since coarse language and mild violence... on behalf of Ocho.


****Authors Note**************  
So I've had this for awhile in my computer and decided to share it with you all, pardon Ocho for having such a colorful vocabulary but I see him as the type of character to obtain such.

I'll expand more upon Teri in the next update.

* * *

The dusk air is filled with the smells of sulfur and smoke as gunfire and lasers can be heard in the distance. In the city that once held thousands of people now holds only tatters of its former glory as flack fires up into the air. Sirens shriek as countless civilians rush from their bombed-out homes as hundreds of 16-bit airplanes fly over. Preparing to drop their ordinances upon the civilians. Ocho backs up from a window as one of his older brothers yells at him from beside a basement door "HURRY UP OCHO". Ocho turns around to see nothing but fire and smoke, the screams of thousands wailing in his ears so loud that he can't think. He screams out as loud as possible but instead of his own voice, he hears his brothers.

Just as the shock sets in he wakes up, fully conscious and sweating… well an 8-bit version of sweating. His scream from his nightmare changes instantly to his own voice as he wails out in tears. His mom shouts to him from outside, her being a "mothership" she has almost full control over her inside compartments, having gone so far for him as to make a bedroom for him to sleep in. "Ocho?! WHAT IS IT HONEY? ANOTHER NIGHT TERROR?" she asks inquisitively although much louder than needed.

"Uh… NO MOM I'M FINE!" "NO NEED TO SHOUT DEAR I'M RIGHT HERE" "Okay… Sorry mom" "IT'S OKAY SWEETHEART"

Hearing his moms voice isn't enough for him to keep calm as he lays in bed unable to go back to sleep. He eventually drifts back to sleep, although he ends up waking up late for school again.

"HONEY YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE!"

"ON IT MOM DON'T WORRY!" He yells to her as he rushes to shower and eat breakfast. "CRAP, CRAP, CRAP, CRAP" he says under his breath as he exits his mother(ship) and floats down to the bus stop. He's hasn't had much sleep last night and he's certainly feeling it. He dozes off and on as he sits on the school bus. 'I'm gonna fall asleep in my locker I don't give a fuck what anyone says' he thinks to himself as he floats lazily down the hall of Elmore High School. He unlocks his locker and takes the lock with him so no funny business happens. As soon as he starts to enjoy his slumber on top of a few hardcover books he hears a bunch of shouting right outside his locker. In an attempt to ignore it he puts a book on top of himself to try to shield himself from the sound, but what happens next…

CRASH

Isn't dismissible…

His locker shutters as something bumps into it, hard. He can't take it anymore. He busts out of the locker furious. The locker door sends Gumball flying across the hall.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!" he shouts

His eyes, adjusting to the light can make out three large blobs in front of him, then the perpetrators become clear. A large pink teddy bear, a classical cartoon looking bomb and a…

Ocho blinks while looking up and down at the perplexing being, and inquires insincerely at its identity "you a tampon?". All three brood over him menacingly, "Shut up pipsqueak". "pipsqueak? PIPSQUEAK?!" Ocho doesn't hold back as he begins fighting all three of them at once, in a blind rage he dashes into them as they pound on him. He can almost take them on, almost.

He's punched back into the locker; then they proceed to take out the lock and shut him in. Incarcerating him with his own lock. He looks through the slits of the locker to see as the bullies run down the hall, and hears what sounds like Gumball getting beaten up some more. Everything makes sense now at least. He slams himself against the door, "LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!". After a few moments of beating on the door he sees a bigger figure than the ones of his assailants, He looks up through a slit and sees his principal standing there looking at him.

"Nevermind, just kidding"

Everyone involved in the incident is put in detention, apparently Gumball was trying to be cool and throw a banana peel into a garbage can, which fell in front of the bomb student, who after slipping then chased Gumball with his goons all the way to where Ochos locker was…

After a long boring day at school and a detention he where could finally find some sleep, Ocho heads outside to the courtyard with Gumball.

"Hey Gumball, can I borrow your phone? I left mine at home."

"sure thing"

He calls his mom asking her to pick him up (and that he forgot his phone, woops…), she tells him that she's going to be late. He then gives back the phone to Gumball who does the same. Afterwards they both sit there and attempt to strike up a small conversation.

"So… How's everything been?"

"Pretty good! I mean besides what happened this morning and what's gonna happen when I get home and my mother finds out about all of this I'd say It's been going swell. What about you?"

"I've been pretty decent lately, nothing too out of the ordinary"

"So uh… what do you do? Do you work or do anything outside of school?"

"Not really, I uh… don't really have much to do besides sometimes working with one of my Uncles who's a programmer"

"OH SWEET! Do you get to make games and stuff?"

"Ehhhh not really, it's just boring stuff most of the time"

"Oh… I see. Well at least it's the second week of school! You'll find something cool to do!"

"yea probably"

They sit in an awkward silence as they think of something to talk about, suddenly Gumball has an idea.

"Wait how good are you at computery stuff?"

"uhh Computer Science? I guess I'd say I'm okayish"

"well how about you join the computer tech club?"

"ehh, I'm not sure"

"Come on! I'll show you where it is. You being a computer guy, you'll love it!"

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to look."

After few minutes with Gumball trying to persuade Ocho on why the club should be interesting they make it to the library. A few students are studying hard at their desks while a few others sit at some computers snickering loudly. Gumball introduces Ocho to them.

"Hey ner... uh… guys, This is my friend Ocho"

"I know a few of them already Gumball, they were in the 'Reject club' with me in Junior High"

"Oh… yea"

One of the students speak up, one that Ocho has never met before. "So why do you think he'd be a good fit for our club Gumball?", Gumball responds "Well he apparently knows how to make games? I think". "I don't know how to make games, I'm just do some coding for my uncle sometimes, and I like to read security stuff sometimes"

"INFOSEC? How interesting"

"yea…"

"We have a security team actually that competes, but we need to know how good you are first"

Ocho Inquires "Well what do you need me to do?"

"Simple" the egghead says starkly "beat the high score on this game I've made over here"

"Really?"

"In 15 minutes… I'll let you know that if you actually try to play it you'll indeed fail since the high score set is impossible physically within the allocated timeframe" he says smugly.

"OH REALLY?" now excited by such a bold claim, 15 minutes? He'd need only 10 to break the game given the right tools

"Well let me download some tools and I'll beat this fucker"

Ocho downloads a few pieces of software while the game loads up, he runs them as he hears criticism over his choices.

"ew proprietary software"

"Who even uses a gui?"

"He'll never finish it with that stuff"

A small crowd of nerds collect behind him as their scoffs turn to surprise, and their surprise turns to shock. Many of them stutter simultaneously as they geek out trying to ask him how he did it so fast. "FIVE MINUTES! THAT'S A NEW RECORD!"

He turns to the leader of the eggheads "too ez, so am I in?"

"That wasn't too impressive but yea sure you could practice with us on Mondays."

"Awesome! Uh… afterschool right?"

"No shit, when do you think we'd practice during school?"

"Sorry as you can see I'm a bit slow, I should've been able to beat your challenge in 2 minutes if I actually had two braincells to rub together."

A few of the intellectuals look at their leader gape, such hostility now would only bring future embarrassment for such a bold statement. The leader himself raises his eyebrows amused at the claim.

"Well there'll be plenty of chances for you to get some by the time we go to our first competition"

* * *

Late again, Ocho flies as fast as he can down to the bus stop and is able to slip through an open window as it drives off. His morning periods fly by as he dozes off quite a bit, all the way up to his personal fitness class. The a giant slug instructor slithers onto the court "Today you're playing basketball… don't hurt yourselves (you little pricks)". The instructor assumes no one heard that last little quip as he moves off the court and tosses a ball to one of the students. Ocho gets into the groove quite a bit as he coordinates with one of his friends, Bobert.

They are doing pretty well together until Bobert yells out to Ocho who's under the net waiting to get passed to.

"OCHO REMAIN ALERT!"

"what?"

"Keep attention to the-"

BONK

CLUNK

SLAM

Ocho peters his way to the nurses office, his cut still dripping scant pixels as he finally opens the door to find no one but a bored paper bear girl sitting next to a cabinet. She looks up at him surprised as he floats in.

"What happened?"

"Where's the nurse?"

"She's out helping someone else, what happened?"

"I got cut obviously" Ocho sarcastically says. The girl looks at the cut for a moment then looks around the room. She walks over to a drawer and pulls out some medical stuff and grabs some gloves.

"What are you doing?"

"Well I've been watching how the nurse works on wounds like that and I'm just getting stuff ready for her."

"could you help me? Like fix it right now?"

"Myself? Uh? I could try I guess. I just want you to know that you're giving me consent so you can't sue me if I do something wrong"

"Yea yea, go for it"

"Alright first you need to rinse this out"

"My wound? Why?"

"to wash out any foreign contaminants that could have gotten inside" the girl clarifies. She takes him to the sink where they let water run on his side. Ocho being slightly awkward never having been use to such contact with girls tries some small talk to keep it from going silent.

"So uh, what are you in here for anyways?"

"I like to talk to the nurse and try to help when I can, for experience in the medical field is all." Her tone seems a bit off but Ocho doesn't pick up on it much, either due to a lack of blood going to his brain or the fact that he sees her grabbing some medical alcohol.

"Cool…"

"Yea, it's cool. Now try to hold still while I sanitize this okay."

"Sure thing, by the way didn't you go to Elmore Junior High? Or something? I think I've seen you before" He asks in order to focus away from the pain of a cotton ball soaked in alcohol cleansing his cut.

"Yea I did, my name is Teri"

"I'm Ocho"

"I remember you were in one of my classes, you had Mrs. Simian right?"

"HEY! I knew I recognized you!"

Teri focuses on dressing the wound as Ocho thinks about something else to talk about. He almost is caught off guard when she asks another question.

"Where you in the library yesterday? I think I saw you playing a game with a bunch of people around you."

Slightly offended Ocho responds aggressively

"Actually, I was hacking some sorry pricks videogame and was able to do it in record time"

"So… you were playing a game."

"No, I was manipulating it to get a high score faster than I would have if I was actually playing it as intended"

"Doesn't that count as playing?"

He looks at her slightly perturbed as she puts on a playful smile "Sorry I'm just teasing you, it's fine if you're in the gamer club I understand it's your guys's thing". Ocho lividly blushes as he tries to respond.

"I wasn't gaming I was trying to break some sorry noobs shitty game by changing some variables through…"

Her brow furrows slightly "Language! There's no need to curse, come on"

"What the fuck is wrong with cursing?"

"it's not at all mature"

"What the fuck is wrong with being immature anyways? It's better than that gay pussy shit that most people try to fake"

She looks at him stunned for a moment then hardens her face.

"Well practicing a little self-control would be beneficial to a lot of people like you. Ya know?" she retorts to him.

"Self-control? I have plenty of self-control! That doesn't mean I have to keep myself from cursing. Stop being so pretentious"

"How did you get that cut? Seems like something like this shouldn't come from a paragon of self control such as yourself."

The conversation turns into an argument that lasts for almost a minute after Teri has patched him up. They stand there bickering when the nurse finally opens the door. "Jeez Teri, I know I let you help but if you are gonna argue with your boyfriend take it outside" the nurse says as she brings in a box of supplies.

"First of all I'm not her boyfriend, Secondly… fuck you!" Ocho storms out of the room as Idaho the potato walks in with a peeler stuck to his head.

Ocho comes home to a very concerned mom who questions him on everything to do with his wound like a caring mother would. He explains to her the accident that happened and how he's fine. "Well what did the nurse say about it? Do we need to get you some antibiotics?"  
"The nurse didn't fix me up, some girl assistant student there did"  
"OH A GIRL! How amazing of a job she did on you! How old is she? Is she your age? OH! Is she going to be a doctor?"

"Whoa mom chill, she's a pretentious bitch who-"

"LANGUAGE"

"SORRY! But, yea she's a mega- super uhh airheaded person who's annoying and I don't like her"

"Did you at least say thank you?"

"Uh… yea"

"I raised you better than to have you lying to me" his mom heckles

"I know mom, but gratitude wasn't needed because of how stupid she was"

"It doesn't matter you'd better go thank her, she did such a good job patching you up. I'm so disappointed that you would be so rude"

*sigh* "alright mom, got it" He knows his mom can read him like a book and just concedes

"Then you can ask her to come to dinner here! Or a date? Or something!"

"MOM"

"what's the girls name at least?"

"Mom, come on"

"Come on my little 1-bit blip"

"Seriously mom?"

"I mean she isn't a mute is she? Well obviously she isn't since she was 'annoying' apparently to you."

"Mom please, why?"

"because I want grandchildren someday"

"OH MY GOSH! WHYYYY"

"CAUSE BABIES ARE SO CUTE!"

Ocho just sits angrily as his mom relents. She pats him on the head.

"I'm just teasing you son, now go get your homework done"

* * *

Nightmares encompass his dreams as they do with almost every night. Gunshots crack, screaming pierces through the air, smoke fills his lungs. His vision remains blurry as he sees red smears streak across his field of view, and his brothers voice gurgles loudly. Before the nightmare can become clearer he wakes up, earlier than usual it seems as the light from the sun barely starts to paint the sky.

Fuck

Knowing that an hour of sleep will elude him he gets ready for school, he looks outside to hear his mother sleeping. 'might as well go early and sleep there' he thinks to himself as he heads out to float by himself to school. He's not one to be bothered by the trip since the stroll honestly doesn't take more than 30 minutes and he enjoys the quiet. He arrives just a few minutes after the school has opened and lazily floats down the hall as his body starts to remember his lack of sleep. He turns around the last corner before his locker and sees the three thugs leaning against his locker, immediately turning back around the corner before they can notice him.

Fuck…

'Where can I sleep that doesn't have much noise?' he mentally asks himself before he thinks of his answer. He travels briskly to the library, getting to find a few students standing outside the door. He tries to peer through the glass door for any signs of a librarian being inside, then tries to open the door.

"If it was open we'd be inside"

FUCK!

Recognizing the voice he turns and makes a quip back.

Ocho "Well it wouldn't be the first time since some dum… (he stops himself from offending the other students waiting) … duh dum uh I don't freaking know, I wanted to check."

Teri "LANGUAGE! You don't need any expletives to get your point across."

Ocho "Why the hell not?"

Teri glares at him for a moment then darts her eyes forwards towards the door. A scowl still upon her face. Ocho realizes his insincerity and remembers his moms order. He lets his irritation simmer down for a moment and tries to apologize after some silence.

Ocho "I'm sorry for acting like a di… pri… a barbaric troglodyte, I honestly am just tired but I understand it's not a good excuse. Also, I apologize for being such after you did this for me" he gestures as well as his pixelated body can to his patched up wound.

She looks at him with some contempt but tempers herself as well.

Teri "It's alright, I understand. Apology accepted"

The tension goes down as he turns to go lean against (and hopefully not fall asleep against) a wall as the other students chatter a bit. Teri smiles slightly as she tries to entertain herself a bit with bugging him.

Teri "I could imagine it'd be hard to sleep being a gamer such as yourself."

'OH HELL NO, DON'T START THIS AGAIN'

Ocho not being one to back from a fight, even a verbal one, tries to return the insult.

Ocho "WELL! I was actually… Ya see… It's…"

He thinks to himself 'Crap I really can't think of anything. Fuck she looks amused. STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT, CAN'T YOU SEE I'M STUPID'

Teri "I'm just teasing you a bit, least I could do for you mouthing off to me earlier."

Ocho "Yea I can see you enjoy doing so… Revenge is a dish best served annoying"

Teri "Couldn't a 'barbaric troglodyte' such as yourself not have a better insult?"

Ocho "It's not an insult, it's a fact"

Teri "Honestly I'm more surprised that you could have such a colorful vocabulary. All the way from impressive to… well like you said!"

Ocho "yea don't repeat it, otherwise I might start saying expletives again"

Teri "Oh wow! you can repeat the big words I say too? How intellectual"

Ocho "don't you mean erudite?"

Teri "more highbrow"

Ocho "sophisticated even?"

Teri "definitely scholarly"

Ocho "uh… I said erudite, right?"

Teri chuckles a bit as the librarian finally comes by and unlocks the door to let them inside. They walk in together making a few more friendly verbal jabs at each other. Ocho is almost happy to break off the bout as he is running on empty in terms of new vocabulary he can try to dump on her.

Ocho "well I must bid you ay-doo"

Teri "It's 'Adieu' actually"

Ocho "sorry I don't speak Spanish"

He smirks a bit as her mouth goes agape slightly due to the coy nature of his comment. He sits in a chair at the row of computers where a few club members are already setting themselves up at. "Is that your girlfriend or something?" an egghead inquires as he looks back at Teri sitting down at a table.

Ocho "No, why you askin?"

Egghead "She's quite attractive"

Ocho goes back to logging into the computer and replies "Well she's mouthy, I don't think you'd want to have anything to do with a chick like that"

"Oh yes her retaliatory remarks to you were indubitably sassy"

Ocho rolls his eyes, it's gonna be a long practice with these nerds.


End file.
